Bao Zheng
| Bao Zheng | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
|
Bao Zheng (包拯) (999–1062) was a much-praised official who served during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Northern Song Dynasty in ancient China. Culturally, Bao Zheng today is respected as the symbol of justice in China. Throughout history, his largely fictionalized stories have appeared in a variety of different literary and dramatic genres, and has enjoyed sustained popularity.
Life and career
 | This article may need clearer distinction between fact and fiction. (February 2008) |
Bao Zheng was born into a scholar family in Hefei, Anhui province. At the age of 29, he passed the highest-level Imperial examination and became qualified as a Jinshi. He was a magistrate in Bian (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty.
After passing the imperial examination in 1027, Bao deferred embarking on his official career for a decade in order to care for his elderly parents and faithfully observe proper mourning rites after their deaths. From 1037 until his death in 1062, Bao successively held several offices at the imperial court and in provincial locations. In his lifetime, Bao was renowned for his filial piety, his stern demeanor, and his intolerance of injustice and corruption. Due to his fame and the strength of his reputation, Bao's name became synonymous with the idealized "honest and upright official" (qingguan 清官), and quickly became a popular subject of early vernacular drama and literature. Bao was also associated with the Buddhist god Yama and the "Infernal Bureaucracy" of the Eastern Marchmount, on account of his supposed ability to judge affairs in the afterlife as well as he judged them in the realm of the living.[1]
He is famous for his uncompromising stance against corruption among the government officials at the time. He upheld justice and refused to yield to higher powers including the Emperor's Father-in-Law (Chinese: 國丈; pinyin: guózhàng), who was also appointed as the Grand Tutor (Chinese: 太師; pinyin: tàishī) and was known as Grand Tutor Pang (Chinese: 龐太師; pinyin: Páng tàishī). He treated Bao as an enemy. Although Grand Tutor Pang is often depicted in myth as an archetypical villain (arrogant, selfish, and cruel), the historical reasons for his bitter rivalry with Bao remains unclear.
Bao had conflicts with other powerful members of the imperial court as well, including the Prime Minister, Song Yang. He had 30 high officials demoted or dismissed for corruption, bribery, or dereliction of duty. He also had Zhang Yaozhuo, uncle of the high-ranked imperial concubine impeached 6 times. In addition, as the imperial censor, he avoided punishment despite having many other contemporary imperial censors punished for minor statements.
Bao Zheng also managed to remain in favour by cultivating a long standing friendship with one of Emperor Renzong's uncle, the Eighth Imperial Prince (Chinese: 八王爺; pinyin: Bāwángyé).
His burial site in Hefei contains his tomb along with the tombs of family members and a memorial temple. It was built in 1066.
Bao had 3 wives in his life, named Lady Zheng, Lady Tung and Lady Sun. He had 2 sons, Bao Ye 包繶 and Bao Suo 包綬.
Legend
Bao Zheng's stories were retold and preserved particularly in the form of performance arts such as Chinese opera and pingshu. Written forms of his legend appeared in the Yuan Dynasty in the form of Qu. In Ming Dynasty, the novel Bao Gong An increased his popularity and added a detective element to his legends. The Qing Dynasty novel The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants also added a wuxia twist to his stories.
In opera or drama, he is often portrayed with a black face and a white crescent shaped birthmark on his forehead. In most dramatization of his stories, he used a set of guillotines (Chinese: 鍘刀; pinyin: zhádāo; Literal: lever-knife), given to him by the emperor, to execute criminals:
- The one decorated with a dog's head (Chinese: 狗頭鍘 or 犬頭鍘; pinyin: gǒutóuzhá or quǎntóuzhá; Literal: dog-headed lever-knife) was used on commoners.
- The one decorated with a tiger's head (Chinese: 虎頭鍘; pinyin: hǔtóuzhá; Literal: tiger-headed lever-knife) was used on government officials.
- The one decorated with a dragon's head (Chinese: 龍頭鍘 or 火龍鍘; pinyin: lóngtóuzhá or huǒlóngzhá; Literal: dragon-headed lever-knife or knife of the fire dragon) was used on royal personages.
He was granted a golden rod (Chinese: 金黄夏楚; pinyin: jīnhuángjiáchǔ) by the previous emperor which he was authorised to chastise the current emperor with. He was also granted an imperial sword (Chinese: 尚方寶劍; pinyin: shàngfāngbǎojiàn) from the previous emperor; whenever it was exhibited the persons surrounding, irrespective of their social classes, must pay respect and compliance to the person exhibiting as the Emperor was present thereat himself. All guillotines of Bao Zheng were authorised to execute any persons prior to reporting to the Emperor to get approval first, whilst some accounts stating the imperial sword was a license to execute any royals before so reporting; however, from both rose the idiom "kill first, report later" Chinese: 先斬後奏; pinyin: xiānzhǎnhòuzòu).
In many stories Bao is usually accompanied by his skilled bodyguard Zhan Zhao and personal secretary Gongsun Ce. Zhan is a skilled martial artist while Gongsun is an intelligent adviser. There are also four enforcers named Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu. All of these characters are presented as righteous and incorruptible.
Due to his strong sense of justice, he is very popular in China, especially among the peasants and the poor. He became the subject of literature and modern Chinese TV series in which his adventures and cases are featured.
Famous cases
- Chen Shimei - Chen Shimei was a poor student who finished first place at the Imperial examination and as a result married a princess. However, Chen hid from the royal family the fact that he had another wife Qin Xianglian and two children, living with his parents in his hometown. When Chen's parents died during a famine, Qin and the children set out for the capital and found out what happened to Chen. Qin managed to meet Chen and begged him to at least help his own children. Instead Chen sent his servant Han Qi to have the family killed. Han eventually let the family escape and killed himself. Qin sought help from Bao Zheng, who tricked Chen to the court. Chen was shocked, but as the emperor's son-in-law he was convinced that Bao dared not convict him. Bao proved him wrong and executed him, despite protests and threats from the royal family.
- Bao Mian - Bao Mian's mother was Bao Zheng's sister-in-law and raised Bao Zheng like her own son. However, once Bao Zheng convicted Bao Mian of bribery and malfeasance he had no choice but to executed Bao Mian. This story demonstrates the conflict between the classical Confucian concepts of loyalty and filial piety.
- Beating the Dragon Robe Case (Chinese: 打龙袍案; pinyin: Dá lóng páo àn) or Swapping the Imperial Son with Wild Cat Case (Chinese: 貍貓換太子案; pinyin: Lí māo huàn tài zǐ àn) - The story of a plot to discredit an imperial concubine by swapping her son (the new born crown prince) with a wild cat or civet, causing her to encounter with poor life out of the palace for twenty years. In this case, Bao disguised as Yan Luo or God of the Underworld to try the eunuch Guo Huai (Chinese: 郭槐; pinyin: Guō Huái). Guo supported Bao in front of the Emperor early in his career, making the case personally difficult for the judge. Thinking he was in hell, the eunuch confessed that the plot was arranged by the current Empress Mother who was envious of the concubine. The crown prince who was now the Emperor was stunned by the truth that the one who took care of him until he grew up was a criminal against his own mother, and did not accepted the discredited concubine as his mother on account of indecision between benevolence of giving care and of giving birth. The Emperor turned his mind upon heavy admonition of judge Bao. The eunuch and the Empress Mother faced death sentence, while some account told that she committed suicide by hanging herself to death. The concubine, who was brought back to the capital by judge Bao, was hurt by initial unacceptance of her son and ordered judge Bao to try and punish the Emperor on charge of lacking filial piety. The judge punished the Emperor with a set of beatings; however, because there has been no officer who punished his Emperor, the judge beat the Dragon Robe worn by the Emperor instead. The concubine was later elevated as the new Empress Mother.
Popular culture
- In modern Chinese, "Bao Gong" or "Bao Qingtian" is invoked as a metaphor or symbol of justice.
- He appears as the main character in a Ming Dynasty Detective novel named Bao Gong An.
- A side scrolling video game, Bao Qing Tian, was released for the Famicom.
- Different TV programs about Justice Bao (包青天) were filmed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Singapore,[2] such as Young Justice Bao. The Chinese Television System 1974/75 and 1993/94 series were popular. The TVB and ATV Home networks in Hong Kong both bought the 1993/94 series in an attempt to gain viewers. Competition between the two networks during the showing of the series was so severe, that identical episodes were shown on both channels on the same night. It was also one of the first dramas that used the NICAM technology (Dual Sound Switch Cantonese/Mandarin). The series was so successful that it spawned numerous spin-off series and created other merchandise products related to Bao Zheng. Most of the series were pure fiction relating to Bao Zheng, especially with some Chinese fantasy thrown in. The series taught Chinese traditional values, like filial piety and respecting elders. Many starring Chin Chao Chun (金超群) as Bao and many series released VCD.
- Stephen Chow made a spin-off movie based on Bao Zheng called Hail the Judge or "Pale Face Bao Zheng Ting" in proper Chinese title. In the movie Stephen plays a descendant of Bao Zheng called "Bao Sing" living in Qing Dynasty, whose family lost its once glorious prestige due to generation of incompetence and corruption.
- Andy Lau in 2003 movie, Cat And Mouse portrayed Zhan Zhao, a court officer under Judge Bao who received order to pursue five mice. Judge Bao was played by Anthony Wong
- He briefly appears in the novel Iron Arm, Golden Sabre and sponsors young Zhou Tong's entry into the military as an officer.[3]
- In the Marvel comic series New Universal, Young Judge Bao is one of the characters in an in-universe comic book.
- The new Justice Bao was recently shown on Taiwanese televisions and has consisted of characters from the first Justice Bao.
- Lingling Takiguchi wrote a Japanese-language comic book series, Hokusou Fuuunden (北宋風雲伝), with Bao as the central character. It is published by Princess Comics.
Notes
- ^ Wilt L. Idema. “The Pilgrimage to Taishan in the Dramatic Literature of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), Vol. 19 (Dec., 1997), pp. 23-57, p. 34
- ^ 内地、港台有关包青天、七侠五义的影视（附评书）列表
- ^ Wang, Yun Heng (汪运衡) and Xiao Yun Long (筱云龙). Tie Bei Jin Dao Zhou Tong Zhuan (铁臂金刀周侗传 - "Iron Arm, Golden Sabre: The Biography of Zhou Tong"). Hangzhou: Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 1986 (UBSN --- Union Books and Serials Number) CN (10103.414) and 464574